Manziel opens up on fame, nickname, 'surreal' season

Updated 8:34 am, Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel (2) before his game against Missouri, Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012, in Kyle Field in College Station. ( Nick de la Torre / Houston Chronicle )

Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel (2) before his game against Missouri, Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012, in Kyle Field in College Station. ( Nick de la Torre / Houston Chronicle )

Photo: Nick De La Torre, Staff

Manziel opens up on fame, nickname, 'surreal' season

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COLLEGE STATION - Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel withstood the rush of three of the nation's best defenses this season against Florida, LSU and Alabama. He expected and prepared accordingly for such pressure. The rush of fame swarming him, however, has caught the nimble freshman phenomenon a bit off guard.

"I don't see myself as Johnny Football," Manziel said Monday in his first visit with the media this season. "I still see myself as Johnathan Manziel, a small-town guy from Kerrville who's extremely fortunate and blessed to play football here at A&M."

As to the origin of his now nationally known nickname, Manziel said: "It was something that kind of started to be thrown around a little bit when I first got here to A&M. It's something a lot of people here in Aggieland seem to enjoy. I find it extremely funny - and it fits."

Manziel, who turns 20 on Dec. 6, is homing in on a first in the 78-year history of the Heisman Trophy. No freshman has won college football's top individual honor, but Manziel is considered the frontrunner, with the Heisman ceremony set for Dec. 8 in New York.

"Winning the Heisman is something you dream about as a kid," Manziel said.

The Heisman is voted on by media members and former winners. Based on multiple polls of voters, Manziel owns a lead over Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o and Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein, among a handful of others.

"Whatever's meant to happen will happen," said Manziel, who's also a finalist for the Davey O'Brien Award, presented to the nation's top quarterback. "The Heisman and those other awards will play themselves out."

The 10-2 Aggies, in their first year in the stout Southeastern Conference, own double-digit victories for the first time since 1998, when they won their lone Big 12 championship.

He interacted with the media - local and national - via a teleconference Monday. A&M coach Kevin Sumlin does not allow first-year players to visit with the media, which he thanked for its collective patience Monday, during the regular season.

"He's a tremendous competitor and a tremendous leader," Sumlin said of Manziel. "And that's something you don't really see in a player as a redshirt freshman."

Manziel's last six months have been a wild ride, not all of it enjoyable. He was arrested in College Station's Northgate bar district last June for fighting, failing to identify himself and carrying two fake licenses, and he had to walk a tightrope for Sumlin over the summer simply to hold down a roster spot.

Manziel, who's 6-foot and 200 pounds, wound up beating out sophomore Jameill Showers for the starting gig during camp - and the rest is likely Heisman history. Thwarting much larger defenders with a bushel load of highlight-reel scampers and escape acts that would make Houdini grin, Manziel broke the SEC record for single-season total offense with 4,600 yards. Former Auburn quarterback and Heisman winner Cam Newton set the previous record in 2010.

"Manziel has the unique talent to not only throw the ball effectively but great instinct for when to scramble," said Alabama coach Nick Saban, whose then-No. 1 team fell to the Aggies 29-24 on Nov. 10 in Tuscaloosa.

He hasn't scrambled away from the spotlight, and pictures from Halloween night of Manziel enjoying the company of skimpily clad young women at Northgate - while dressed as Scooby Doo - surfaced on the Internet.

"A lot of the guys on the team dressed up and just wanted to get away from all of the seriousness and the grind that is the college football season and go out and be kids again and just have fun," Manziel said.

But he's also grown acutely aware that the rest of his teammates aren't Heisman contenders and don't own catchy nicknames that have become part of the college football lexicon.

"I'm a lot more aware of my surroundings and the places I'm at at all times," Manziel said. "It's changed my lifestyle immensely. You become more of a homebody. You pick out your closest friends in life, and you hang out with them and your family."